First city to accept Bitcoins for government services

The Swiss town of Zug (28,603 inhabitants) has more than thousand years of history, medieval architecture, beautiful lake and hosts dynamic financial start-ups, including Ethereum – currently second most important cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, and 2 other cryptos – Xapo and ShapeShift. Local Parliament have taken an unprecedented step and allowed payments for utilities and local taxes in BTC. For now, single payment to town budget can’t exceed 200 Swiss Francs (about 205 USD), but it may be raised in the future if there will be such necessity.

This program will last until the end of 2016. Later, the city authorities will examine the results and decide on its possible extension to other virtual currencies. The mayor Dolfi Müller, hopes that the launch of this program will attract even more FinTech companies. In a interview to the local newspaper “Stadt Zug”, Müller explains that he wants to show openness to new technologies and allow new companies to grow in modern financial environment.

As you might guess, this action is primarily marketing for the town. In this way local authorities will be able to attract curious investors and attention of financial press from around the world. This pioneering step will also inspire other cities and soon Bitcoin payments will be popular everywhere.

My name is Maciej Włodarczak and I have 10 years of experience in making money on financial assets. I own various online ventures and I am a contrarian eToro Popular Investor with more than 20-30% yearly gains.

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